Dive and Hike Manado Tua

Manado Tua Island is the large volcano you see when you fly into Manado. It is an inactive volcanic cone island within the Bunaken Marine Park. It takes about 30 minutes to get there from our resort Two Fish Divers Bunaken. In between the mainland and Manado Tua is a deep trench with a depth of 1,200m, and this deep water keeps the reef relatively free from garbage and silt.

As the island is within the Marine Park, the area is protected from spearfishing, coral harvesting as well as dynamite fishing. It is surrounded by beautiful steep walls similar to Bunaken. Most of Bunaken Marine Park is wall diving with some steep sloping areas in between walls. For those that do not dive you can go snorkeling where the shallow water is very beautiful on every dive site!

The dive sites are very deep with some drop-offs where you can only see blue water – when you look down, there is no visible bottom! The current can be strong with some up and down currents and the direction depends on the wind direction. It is a good spot for more experienced divers with a local dive guide that knows the area. We can get to Manado Tua as part of our morning dives, depending on conditions, experience level and how many divers are on the boat. It is really cool to see some of the different diving on the other islands as well as around Bunaken!

Underwater we see large schools of red tooth triggerfish, pyramid butterflyfish and fusiliers. At Manado Tua we have a few places where you can see Giant Frogfish which are perched precariously and look like they are about to fall off the wall. There are lots of different types of pufferfish, porcupine fish, boxfish and in the shallows there are stunning coral gardens! You may see some bigger fish like napoleon wrasse, giant trevally, eagle rays, snappers, grouper and if you are very, very lucky a hammerhead shark. Because of the deep water we are often surprised by big marine species – we’ve seen migrating whales, whales sharks, dolphins, pilot whales and even a mola mola!

Hiking up Manado Tua offers you fantastic views over the islands and Manado Bay. If the weather is good you can see Gunung Soputan (volcano) smoking which is about 60 kilometers away! It is best to leave earlier to get to the island so you don’t get too hot. We can help you to arrange a boat and a guide to go to Manado Tua Island from Two Fish Bunaken Resort.

We see Manado Tua when we go out diving, and it is spectacular when we go night diving around the south of the island and watch the sun setting near the volcano. You can also see the sunset if you walk into the village in the evening and go onto the beach. It is beautiful seeing the sun setting over Manado Tua volcano!

Of course, everyone comes here for the diving and the snorkeling but if you have to spend time on land before you fly home, then why not explore the local area and see something special – and hike a volcano!!

WOuld you like to join us for diving in Bunaken? Our tropical Island dive resort is ready to welcome you!

Want to dive and Save?

Check out our latest special offers here!!

For more information, or to make a booking and to claim a special offer, fill in the form below and we will get right back to you!